


Dusk of a New Empire

by dnitegirl, gloatingraccoon, liasangria



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, F/M, Gen, Helmsman Sollux, Historical Account, Homestuck Shipping World Cup, Illustrated, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Propaganda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 22:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dnitegirl/pseuds/dnitegirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloatingraccoon/pseuds/gloatingraccoon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/liasangria/pseuds/liasangria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"It is time for the troll people to heal their wounds and rise again as one, but not out of fear, not out of coercion, not out of servitude." ~Her Enlightened Serenity </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dusk of a New Empire

**Author's Note:**

> Here's Team Eridan/Feferi/Sollux's entry for Main Round 1 of the Homestuck Shipping World Cup. The theme was Propaganda.  
> Text by [dasteroad](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dasteroad/profile) with edits by [dnitegirl](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dnitegirl/profile).  
> Illustrations 1, 2 and 4, as well as the sketches for 3 and 5, are by [liasangria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/liasangria/profile). Lineart and colouring for illustrations 3 and 5 are by [dnitegirl](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dnitegirl/profile).

> _"For thousands of sweeps we have fought and conquered, we have silenced and slaughtered, we have crushed and exterminated any form of weakness and doubt both around us and within us. For thousands of sweeps we have believed this was the way to a stronger people, and a stronger empire. For thousands of sweeps we have been wrong. We have built an empire over bloodshed, oppression and hatred, and now, at the dusk of a new era, these wounds are tearing it apart, while our enemies watch on, ready to feast on its carcass. Now it is time for this to end, or it will be the end of us. It is time for the troll people to heal their wounds and rise again as one, but not out of fear, not out of coercion, not out of servitude. We do not serve the Empire. We are the Empire."  
>  \- Her Enlightened Serenity, Inauguration Night Speech _

The death of Her Imperious Condescension and the subsequent claim to power of tyrianblood Feferi Peixes, hitherto known as Her Enlightened Serenity, marked the beginning of the Second Era of the Alternian Empire.

During the first fifteen sweeps of Her reign, the fate of both the ruling class and Alternia itself hung in critical balance. The war of succession had exposed a weak spot in the Alternian Empire, paving the way for local revolts and foreign invaders. The entire Masnautzen and Faran 1000 systems, critical for mining and primary resources, were lost to the growing Memphyze civilization, taking a heavy toll on the Empire and the troll people as a whole. The new Empress rose to power over a declining, divided nation, with Her army and Her most loyal followers on their knees, lacking support both from nobility, who viewed Her as either too weak or a pawn of foreigners, and from peasantry, who only viewed Her as yet another tyrianblood tyrant. Under the looming threat of civil war and the expanding Memphyze, Alternia would have fallen into chaos, unless the newly arisen ruling class was able to provide the stability and strength needed for a true reconstruction.

The first step taken by the new Empress to unite the country and consolidate Her position, was a series of measures known as the Caste Reform Act, which rewrote the very structure the Alternian Empire had been based on for thousands of sweeps. The most groundbreaking points included the restoration of the ancient Panspectrum Senate, which fundamentally identified the Empress' power as no longer absolute; the redefinition of culling as caring for the unfit and unfirm; the abolition of slavery and of compulsory contribution to the slurry. Most measures were met with enthusiasm by the oppressed peasantry, and with resistance by the privileged castes, while the institution of the Senate, which offered the population as a whole the possibility to take part in the country's renewal and negotiate issues, was met with uniform approval.

A widespread campaign of propaganda and information, as well as extended public confrontations with all parties involved, proved to be of critical importance to support the application of the first Reform and those that followed in later sweeps, among the most noteworthy of which the strengthening of the army, not as a means of oppression and conquest but of peacekeeping and defense from foreign attacks, and the abolition of caste-bound careers, with the memorable example of the institution of the Free Helmsmen Platoon, gifted psychics who chose to pursue a piloting career without the lifelong enslavement this previously entailed.

With improvements to the technology, previously restrictive helmsman rigs became walk-on, walk-off affairs which allowed for ease of movement and did not require the troll to stay in one place. It became common to have several psychics aboard each ship, each taking a shift in the rig.

> _"The ashes of the First Era have taught us the Empire is nothing without its people. The Second Era shows us a new people and a new Empire, ready to prosper and face our enemies. An Empire without highbloods or lowbloods, without finfaces and rustveins, without purebloods and mutants, without masters and slaves. An Empire that holds no mercy for criminals and enemies of its freedom, but in which no troll's life is cursed for what they cannot help. An Empire of warmbloods and coldbloods, physically strong or psychically strong, or entirely different, but all free trolls, walking together as equals, ready to make this nation greater than ever before."  
>  \- Her Enlightened Serenity, Speech to the Nation, sweep 17 of the Second Era_

In an effort to win the hearts and trust as well as the support of Her subjects, Her Enlightened Serenity also took great care to always appear in public escorted by Her two closest advisors, violetblood Admiral Ampora, commander in chief of the army, and goldblood psionic Captain Captor, head of the Free Helmsmen Platoon, both of whom were said to be in an affectionate matespritship with the Empress Herself. Such an unusual arrangement for the time was frowned upon by the most conservative fringes of nobility, but in time the image of balanced, consensual union between equals from different castes the trio projected became increasingly popular as the Empire, its people and its culture evolved, further strengthening the Empress' following.

Despite several assassination attempts and popular uprisings, the Empress' careful campaign of state reform, negotiation and propaganda succeeded in returning unity and strength to the Alternian Empire, which even with heavy losses kept the Memphyze threat at bay during the 10 sweeps war, until an armistice and new trading agreements were negotiated.

> _"Many have fallen for the Empire to find peace, and many will fall again in difficult times, but our hardships only made us stronger. We will not bend, we will not yield, we will not kneel to those who would steal our freedom. We are the troll people, we are hatched different and equal, and we stand as one. We do not serve the Empire. We are the Empire."  
>  \- Her Enlightened Serenity, Speech to the Nation, sweep 31 of the Second Era._


End file.
